This invention relates to splices for mechanically coupling sections of cable or other elongated sections, and is more particularly concerned with self-tightening mechanical splices for use in conjunction with electrical splices in armored electrical cable.
In the pumping of oil and other liquids from deep wells, it is common practice to employ submergible pumping units which are suspended in the wells by armored electrical cables, the pumping units containing pumps of the centrifugal type, for example, and electric driving motors. The cables typically comprise a plurality of insulated electrical conductors for supplying power to the electric motor and a multiplicity of outer armor wires for supporting the weight of the pumping unit.
Because the occurrence of an electrical fault in such cable requires that the pumping unit be taken out of service until the fault can be repaired, it is desirable that the electrical fault be quickly and simply repaired at the site. Although the electrical fault can be repaired by cutting out the affected portion of the cable and splicing together the corresponding conductors of the cable sections in a known manner, the prior art does not provide simple, economical, and easily-installed apparatus for flexibly, mechanically coupling together the armor wires of the cable sections so that tension will not be applied to the electrical splice proper when the spliced cable is returned to service.